The guy is 85 years old. Pretty well all the previous Popes that hung on until they died were pretty useless the last few months or years before they actually did die so Benedict seems to be thinking more about the well being of the Catholic Church than his position as Pope.

I see it more as he knows he's fucked up. The amount of drama and controversy within the church since he took over...it's staggering honestly. And now the new pope is old as dirt so god knows how long he'll be pope. My catholic church needs to revitalize itself some I dare say.